BANGLADESH MINISTER INAUGURATES
100TH ADVANCED COURSE ON
ADMINISTRATION AND DEVELOPMENT
he 100th Advanced Course on Administration
and Development (ACAD) delivered at AIT
was inaugurated by the Minister of State of
Public Administration, Bangladesh, H.E. Ismat Ara
Sadique on 26 October 2015. Inaugurating the program,
the minister stated that AIT is known as one of the best
institutes, and such courses provide an opportunity to
government officials and civil servants to learn and adapt
to new developments.
The minister was introduced by H.E. Saida Muna
Tasneem, Ambassador of Bangladesh to Thailand,
who remarked that Bangladesh is the top country in

sending its civil servants to AIT for international
training courses. Describing AIT Extension as the
fourth pillar of AIT, the ambassador added that she
has proposed a chair professorship from Bangladesh
for AIT. This proposal has been approved by the
Bangladesh prime minister, the ambassador added
â&#x20AC;&#x201D; an achievement which earned praise from
the visiting minister. AITâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Vice President for
Resource Development, Prof. Kazuo Yamamoto, and
Executive Director of AIT Extension, Dr. Jonathan
Shaw thanked the Minister for gracing the occasion
at AIT.

Senior officials of the Thai government
deliberated on the EU-ASEAN Collaboration
on Mekong Water Sustainable Cities in an
interaction with AIT on 30 October 2015. Dr.
Manop Sittidech, Minister Counsellor, and
Director, Office of Science and Technology,
Royal Thai Embassy, Brussels, Belgium; and
Dr. Pierrick Fillon-Ashida, Senior Policy
Officer, Directorate for International Affairs
(Asia Unit) discussed the contribution of
AIT in various projects being conducted with
ASEAN countries.
Deliberating on upcoming calls for projects,
the two delegates spoke about EU bilateral
cooperation and EU programs in the region.

AIT co hosts meeting with
UNESCO-IHE on Online Course
UNESCO-IHE Institute
for Water Education
and AIT discussed the
modalities of developing
an online course on Fecal
Sludge Management at
a five-day program held
at Bangkok from 26-30
October 2015. The certificate online learning
module will be offered
to public who are interest in fundamentals of fecal sludge
management with considerations of planning, design, and
implementation aspects.
Leading the team were Dr. Damir Brdjanovic, Professor
of Sanitary Engineering, UNESCO-IHE, Dr. Roshan
Shrestha, Senior Program Officer, Bill & Melinda Gates
Foundation, and Dr. Thammarat Koottatep of Environmental Engineering and Management (EEM), AIT.
The five-day event included 65 participants from nine
universities and institutes from Southeast Asia, South Asia,
Africa and South America. A parallel event on ‘Stimulating
Local Innovation on Sanitation for the Urban Poor
in Sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia was also
organized.

AIT President at OECD’s World Science and Technology Forum
AIT President Prof. Worsak Kanok-Nukulchai
delivered a keynote speech on “Science
Education and Human Resource Development”
at the World Science and Technology Forum
(WSTF), which was a prelude event to the
OECD Ministerial Meeting held at Daejeon,
Korea. Prof. Worsak was personally invited
by H.E. Choi Yanghee, Minister of Science,
ICT and Future Planning, Republic of Korea,
to speak on the theme of “Creating Our
Common Future through Science, Technology,
and Innovation.”
The AIT President shared his ideas on how AIT can offer a neutral platform to address transnational challenges
through multidisciplinary research. At the same event AIT’s Vice President, Prof. Kasuo Yamamoto spoke on
“Mitigation and Adaptation on Frequent Drought and Water Shortage.”

RECENT NEWS / HAPPENINGS AT AIT
NOVEMBER 2015

AIT co hosts River and Wetland
Watch Volunteering Programme

Participants at the River Volunteering Program.

AIT, World Wildlife Fund-Thailand (WWF-Thailand),
and Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation
(HSBC) jointly hosted a “River and Wetland Watch
Volunteering Programme” in Nakhon Phanom
Province, Thailand on 17-18 October 2015.
According to Dr Sangam Shrestha of AIT,
activities included a water-quality monitoring
activity of the Songkhram River, planting of mangrove
forests, and presentation of a donation which will
provide water tanks, water filters and computers to
three local schools. The project, which is funded by
HSBC, supports the conservation of the river and
wetlands of Lower Songkram River Basin.

Policy Manual on Wastewater
released
A “Policy Guidance Manual on Wastewater Management” was released on the occasion of the Sixth Asia
Pacific Urban Forum (APUF6) at Jakarta, Indonesia
on 19 October 2015. Jointly produced by UN ESCAP,
UN-Habitat and AIT, the manual is an outcome of a
project on “Strengthening capacity of policymakers in
South-East Asia to promote policies and developing
plans for improved wastewater treatment and reuse in
urban and periurban areas.”
Releasing the manual was Dr. Thammarat Koottatep
of AIT, along with Mr. Donovan Storey, Chief
of Sustainable Urban Development Section,
UN-ESCAP; Mr. Avi Sarkar, Technical Advisor,
UN-Habitat; Dr. Aida Karazhanova, UNESCAP; Mr. Ramdeep Sah, Joint Secretary, Water
and Environment Division, Ministry of Urban
Development, Nepal; Mr. Kulwant Singh, Chief

Dr. Shobhakal Dhakal at plenary session of APUF6
Dr. Shobhakar Dhakal of AIT spoke
at the plenary session of APUF6 on 21
October at the session on “Climate-smart and
Resilient Cities.”Dr. Shobhakar discussed
issues related to how cities can become
more resilient, adaptive to climate change,
disasters and other risks, while simultaneously
reducing their own impact on climate change
and contributing to larger poverty reduction
and urban sustainability goals.

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RECENT NEWS / PEOPLE
4

NOVEMBER 2015

AIT alumnus appointed Governor of Surin province
AIT alumnus, Mr. Adthaporn Singhawichai, has been appointed
as Governor of Surin province, which is located in the North
eastern region of Thailand bordering Cambodia. A graduate of
Human Settlements and Development, Mr. Adthaporn completed
his Master’s of Science from AIT in 1987. He assumed duties as
Governor from 1 October 2015.

Mr. Adthaporn Singhawichai

Prior to being appointed Governor, Uttaporn served as Deputy
Director General of Community Development Department in
the Ministry of Interior. He has also worked as Director of the
Bureau of Prevention; Director of Research and International
Cooperation; Director of Policy, Prevention and Mitigation;
Secretary, Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation; and
Deputy Director of Defense.

AITAA (Korea Chapter)
donates KRW 18,220,000

Capacity Building Program for
Afghan Officials from Ministry
of Energy and Water
AIT concluded its third batch of capacity building programs for Afghan officials from their Ministry of Energy and Water on 15 October 2015. The program run
by the Water Engineering and Management (WEM)
field of study at AIT saw three batches of 10 engineers,
managers and professionals each learn about various
aspects of irrigation projects.

The third batch was trained on “Design of Diversion
Works,” while the earlier batches learnt about Design
of Irrigation and Drainage Structures” and “Feasibility Studies for Irrigation Projects.” Led by Dr. Sangam Shrestha of AIT, the program is supported by the
World Bank.

RECENT NEWS / HAPPENINGS AT AIT / PEOPLE
NOVEMBER 2015

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27 participants from 15 countries join Biofloc technology training
Shrimp farming which began as a traditional small-scale business in
Southeast Asia has now emerged as a global industry. Aiding the rise
of shrimp farming are newer technologies like Biofloc that enable
production of shrimp without water exchange. Bioflocs also maintain
good water quality and provide essential and high quality nutrients to
shrimps.
Learning about the advances in biofloc technology were 27 participants
coming from 15 countries at AIT on 12 October 2015. Launching
the second program in this series, Dr. Krishna R Salin of AIT said:
“We were inundated with queries when we held our first program in
July this year.”

Dr. K R Salin

Ngodup Tsering of Central Tibet
Administration visits AIT

AIT hosts Education Camp

Prof. Worsak Kanok-Nukulchai (left) with Mr. Ngodup Tsering.

SRMU Education Camp.

Mr. Ngodup Tsering, Kalong for Education, Central
Tibet Administration (CTA), Dharamsala, Himachal
Pradesh, India, visited AIT on 29 October 2015 to
explore possible support in the field of academic
research and training. CTA is exploring institutions in
Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore for deputing their
staff for training and capacity building.

AIT played host to a two-week Education Camp and
Study Tour for 19 undergraduate students and two
faculty members of Shri Ramswaroop Memorial
University (SMRU), Lucknow, India.

He admired AIT for its vision and mission stating
that “AIT is doing a great job in empowering students
with solutions.” He was received at AIT by President
Worsak-Kanok Nukulchai and other senior members
of the AIT management.

AIT President Prof. Worsak Kanok-Nukulchai
welcomed the undergrads and briefed them of some
of the innovative, high quality research carried out at
AIT acorss a number of domains. Prof. Nitin Kumar
Tripathi, Coordinator-Camp, and Director- Special
Degree Programs, AIT, said the 14-day camp for
engineering and management students was held under
the theme: “Building Your Dreams by Igniting,
Innovating and Inspriring.” SRMU faculty members
Dr. Raj Laxmi and Mr. Anurag Agarwal said the camp
inspired their students to pursue admission to AIT for
further studies.